Chopper crash witness: 'Some of us are lucky to be alive today'

By MICHELLE ESTEBAN, KOMO STAFF

Published 10:15 pm, Tuesday, March 18, 2014

In this photo provided by KOMO-TV, a car burns at the scene of a helicopter crash outside the KOMO-TV studios near the space needle in Seattle on Tuesday. (AP Photo/KOMO-TV, Kelly Koopmans)

In this photo provided by KOMO-TV, a car burns at the scene of a...

In this image made from video provided by KOMO-TV, smoke rises from the scene of a news helicopter crash outside the KOMO-TV studios near the space needle in Seattle, Tuesday. (AP Photo/Courtesy KOMO-TV)
Photo: Uncredited, Komo/kiro

In this image made from video provided by KOMO-TV, smoke rises from...

In this photo provided by KOMO-TV, emergency personnel respond to the scene of a helicopter crash outside the KOMO-TV studios near the space needle in Seattle on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. The station says the helicopter was apparently coming in for a landing on its rooftop Tuesday morning when it possibly hit the side of the building and went down, hitting several vehicles on Broad Street. (AP Photo/KOMO-TV, Kelly Koopmans)

In this photo provided by KOMO-TV, emergency personnel respond to...

In this image made from video provided by KOMO-TV, smoke rises from the scene of a news helicopter crash outside the KOMO-TV studios near the space needle in Seattle, Tuesday, March 18, 2014, in Seattle. The station says the copter was apparently coming in for a landing on its rooftop Tuesday morning when it possibly hit the side of the building and went down, hitting several vehicles. (AP Photo/Courtesy KOMO-TV)

In this image made from video provided by KOMO-TV, smoke rises from...

Four people were in their vehicles on Broad Street outside Fisher Plaza on Tuesday morning when the KOMO News helicopter came crashing down.

One driver, 38-year-old Richard Newman, suffered severe burns when the chopper hit his car and exploded. Three others had a harrowing front-row seat to the horrific crash.

One thing was clear to all the witnesses: The chopper was in trouble, and they knew they might be, too.

"Some of us are lucky to be alive today," said Pete Williams.

Williams said he'll never forget the images that led up to the crash. He was inside his car, just four car lengths back from where the helicopter crashed.

"Debris was flying," he said. "A piece of it hit my car. I saw it coming, so my carpool partner and I both ducked down behind the dashboard, and then it glanced off my car."

The Washington State Ferries captain was just a block away from his office when he and his carpool buddy, coworker Donna Wharton, first noticed trouble.

"I was looking up, and I said, 'Should that helicopter be doing that?' and I was like, something looks off, and he's like, 'No, it shouldn't.' And right then it just came down and it hit," Wharton said.

Williams said the helicopter nose dived off the Fisher Plaza launch pad. He said he could see the pilot struggling to correct the problem.

"It was unstable, it was pitching and going up and down," he said.

Wharton also looked up and knew immediately that something was horribly wrong with the chopper.

"Its tail wobbled, it did a couple tail spins, and then the nose was coming down a little bit more, and then swooped down, and hit," she said.

Williams slammed on his brakes and attempted to back up. On the other side of the crash site, a driver who was likely uncertain of what happened behind her bolted from her car before returning to the vehicle to drive to a safer spot.

Dozens of witnesses watched in horror as a man on fire ran for cover. Flames from the crash charred every inch of his car.

"His jacket is in flames, he's on fire, rolling on the floor. I see firemen helping him get it out," said witness Meela Taurc.

Newman is currently in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center and will need surgery to treat his burns.